The services of Giorgia Meloni, known for her ultraconservative positions in favor of the traditional family, denied any censorship on Wednesday.
AFP
Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden on Thursday criticized Giorgia Meloni’s opposition to the addition of incisive wording in favor of the right to abortion in the final declaration from the G7 summit which is held in Italy.
Irritated partners
The far-right Prime Minister’s objections Giorgia Meloni, whose country chairs the G7 this year, have particularly irritated its partners. In addition to Italy, the G7 includes the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan.
President Joe Biden “was really keen that we have at least the words referring to what we had in Hiroshima on women’s health and reproductive rights” during the 2023 G7 under Japanese presidency, underlined a senior American official on condition of anonymity. “The communiqué (final of the G7) will reaffirm the commitment made in Hiroshima,” scathed the official, in reference to the support expressed in Japan for “safe and legal” voluntary terminations of pregnancy (abortion).
Macron’s regrets
French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, regretted the Italian position. “France has integrated this right of women to abortion, the freedom to dispose of one’s body in its Constitution,” he recalled on the sidelines of the summit. “These are not the same sensitivities that there are in your country today […]. I regret it,” he said in response to an Italian journalist.
The services of Ms. Meloni, known for her ultraconservative positions in favor of the traditional family, denied any censorship on Wednesday, affirming that negotiations were still ongoing.
“She is isolated on this subject”
Last year, in their final communiqué following their summit in Japan, the leaders expressed their “great concern” about the decline in women’s rights. They were also committed to “access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care”. A source close to the negotiations told AFP at the start of the day that since 2021, “there is a mention of “safe access” but that “Meloni does not want it”.
“She is isolated on this subject. But since it is the host country, the others decided not to make one casus belli», Added this source. It seems that the Americans did not want to stop there, while abortion is a hot topic in the United Stateswhere President Joe Biden denounced the restrictions on this fundamental right imposed in the most conservative states.
“Christian Mother”
Coming to power in October 2022, Giorgia Meloni, who likes to present herself as a “Christian mother”, is accused by women’s rights defenders of trying to hinder access to abortion in Italy, a country where the Catholic Church retains significant weight.
Although abortion has been authorized since 1978, access is severely limited by the very high percentage of gynecologists who invoke conscientious objection to refuse to perform them. In April, the Italian Parliament, dominated by the right and the far right, passed a measure promoted by the Meloni government allowing anti-abortion activists to be present in clinics where women seeking abortions go, provoking outrage opposition parties.
